Safety closure for a container

ABSTRACT

An arrangement, for closing a container such as a bottle or like container, including a cap within the skirt of which is mounted one or more projections, for example, pins. Each pin fits into a groove formed in or on the neck or similar formation on the container. Each groove has at least one indent within which the inserted pin can be located to hold the cap in a position to seal the container. The cap is provided with means to bias it away from the container when the latter is sealed, and an enlarged indented section within a groove is used so that the biassing action in combination with the enlarged indented section provide a closure for the container which cannot be easily undone by young children. In another arrangement, the pins are located on the container and the grooves within the cap.

Write States Patent 1191 Aifleck July 31, 1973 SAFETY CLOSURE FOR ACONTAINER Primary ExaminerGeorge T. Hall [76] inventor: Lyle ClaudAifleck, 30 Albert Them Parade, Ashfield, Australia 221 Filed: Feb. 12,1971 L AIBSTRACT h b n arrangement, for c osing a container suc as a ot-[21] Appl' 114351 tle or like container, including a cap within theskirt of which is mounted one or more projections, for exam- [30]Foreign Application Priority Data ple, pins. Each pin fits into a grooveformed in or on the May 25 1970 Australia 130s heck similar cumin Eachgroove has at least one indent within which the inserted 52 US. Cl.215/9 215/44 can he mated caP a 51 1111. c1 B6511 43/02 the The caP isPmvided with means bias 581 Field of Search 215/9 44 it away the when issealed and an enlarged indented section within a groove is [56]Relerences Cited used so that the biassing action in combination withthe enlarged indented section provide a closure for the UNITED STATESPATENTS container which cannot be easily undone by young chil- 3,595,4172/1971 Musher 215/9 drem I th r arrangement, the pins are located on thecontainer and the grooves within the cap.

12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SAFETY CLOSURE FOR A CONTAINER Thisinvention relates to closure arrangements for containers such as bottlesand more particularly concerns an arrangement incorporating a re-usablecap which is placed over the neck of a container to seal the same. Thecap cannot be accidentally removed from the container and the closurearrangement may incorporate features which make it very difficult for achild to remove the cap from a sealed container.

With the growth of pharmacology and the increased prescription bydoctors of medicines which are beneficial when used in specific dosesfor particular illnesses but which are dangerous, even fatal when thedosage is exceeded, the need to prevent children having access to drugsis especially important. Equally important is the necessity to protectthe children against access to hazardous substances so often to be foundin cupboards or on shelves, benches, or the like, in and around mostdwelling places and outbuildings. Unfortunately, many people do notalways take the trouble to ensure that these hazardous substances arekept safely out of the reach of children and those that do take suchprecautions may occasionally forget to do so.

Also, there are those people who have to carry drugs with them andshould the container of the drugs, for example, in pill or capsule formfall open in their pocket,

handbag or briefcase, the drugs may be spilled onto the floor whenremoving a handkerchief or other object. A child could then pick up adangerous tablet and swallow the same, perhaps mistaking it for a candyor sweet.

Numerous preparations are specially sweetened, for example, childrensaspirins, to assist in their administration, which is all very well whenthe dosage is controlled by a parent or other responsible person but itis well known that children who are able to get possession of acontainer and can open it invariably consume an excessive dosage withdisastrous results.

Drugs and other preparations in liquid form also present a hazard. Aninquisitive child who comes upon a bottle containing a liquid is likelyto taste the contents of the bottle, especially if the liquid iscoloured. Since it is common practice to use a pleasant flavouring torender sour or bitter tasting medicines more palatable, the child inquestion could easily exceed greatly a safe dose. Also, the removal by achild of a cap from a container carrying a caustic substance or a highlyvolatile liquid which gives off a toxic gas, for example, would be apotentially very dangerous action.

One object of the present invention is, therefore, the provision of aclosure arrangement for containers such as bottles which cannot easilybe opened by young chidren.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a closurearrangement for containers which requires a positive action to open thesame.

According to the present invention, a container closure arrangementcomprises a first closure member which co-operates with a second closuremember to hold a sealing member against the rim of the container at theperiphery of the opening or mouth thereof, one of said closure memberscomprising a skirted cap containing said sealing member and the otherclosure member comprising a neck or similar formation on the containerand defining the opening thereto, means biassing said cap away from saidneck, at least one projection located in one of said closure members andat least the same number of grooves formed in or on the other of saidclosure members, each groove comprising an entry portion for aprojection and at least one indent within which the projection islocated when the container is sealed.

Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a side elevation of the top part of a container closed by anarrangement in accordance with the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the closure arrangement ofFIG. 1, illustrating safety provisions in a groove in the containerneck,

FIG. 3 is a front view, partly in section, of a different embodiment ofthe invention, showing a combination of safety and simple cap lockingarrangements,

FIG. 4 is a section through the cap of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a partly sectional view of a modified arrangement where pinsare included on the container and grooves are formed in the cap, and

FIG. 6 depicts a groove configuration of yet another embodiment of theinvention.

Although a variety of cap and neck combinations are possible within thescope of the present invention, the following description relatesspecifically to the case where projections in the form of pins and twogrooves are used. It is, however, possible to use one pin and one groovein the closure arrangement, but this is not regarded as the mostpractical closure arrangement.

It should be noted that where a plurality of pins (or other suitableprojections) and grooves is involved, it is not necessary for the pinsand grooves to be uniformly spaced, although this will generally be thecase, and it is possible for there to be more grooves than pins in anarrangement.

In addition, in the following description, the directional terms, suchas downwardly upward, above," below and the like, relate to thecontainer and cap in a location corresponding to that of the containersand caps illustrated in the drawings. It is realised that this is notnecessarily the case in practice.

Referring now to the drawings, a container 11 (e.g., a bottle) is closedas its aperture by a cap 7 having locating pins 8 which engage with agroove or track 9 formed on or in the surface of the container adjacentthe aperture thereof. The groove or track 9 is cut out of the wall orsimilar formation on the neck of the bottle or is formed therein. Thegroove does not extend completely through the neck material. Each groovehas a generally downward entry portion 10 which terminates in a lockingportion having indents for use in holding the cap on the container whenthe latter is closed by the former.

To ensure a good seal when the cap is used, and to assist in the lockingof the cap on the container, a means to provide a biassing force awayfrom the container on sealing the same is provided. This means istypically a compressible and resilient pad 12 mounted within the capbehind a sealing pad 13, rubber or a rubber substitute or a pillow ofair being examples of pad I2. Alternatively, a spring or the like may befitted in the cap 7 behind the pad 13.

Sealing with the cap is effected by running the pins 8 into the entryportions 10 of grooves or tracks 9 until the pad 13 meets the top of theneck or similar formation on the container 11. At this point it shouldbe noted that at the upper end of the neck the entry portions of thegrooves may be considerably wider than is necessary to accommodate thepins. Indeed, in one embodiment for example, when the container isintended for use by persons of limited manipulative ability the entryportion may be quarter-circular in shape or an expanded form of thatshape, extending over almost half of the outer circumference of the neckat the top thereof.

Normally, however, the grooves will be enlarged at their entrances toabout two or three times the width of the pins to be inserted so thatlocating the pins within the grooves is not a difficult task. Manualpressure on the cap to compress pad 12 or its alternative spring enablesthe pins to complete their travel to the bottom of entry portions andenter the locking portions of the grooves.

Here, if the pins have been moved into a position under the indent orone of the indents formed in the upper edge of the locking portions ofthe grooves, release of the cap permits it to move under the biassingforce so that the pins enter into the indents having dimensions similarto those of the indent reference I4 in FIG. 2.

A plurality of such indents may be provided in the locking portion of asingle groove to provide a number of sealing positions of the cap. Ifthe plurality of indents are so arranged that they are at differentheights on the neck (for example, by inclining the locking portions ofthe grooves), a variety of sealing pressures of pad 13 is possible.

When sealed in this manner, which for convenience will be termed simplesealing, the cap cannot be accidentally removed from the bottle.However, reverse rotation of the cap without pressing the same furtheron to the container neck does enable the cap to be removed from it andconsequently this arrangement in itself is not entirely safe if youngchildren could have access to the container. A larger indent or cut-awayportion (see FIG. 2) can be used to remedy this deficiency.

Indent 15 is so dimensioned and positioned in the groove that when thecap is rotated to release the seal on the container, the pins 8 enterthis indent as a result of the biassing effect of the pad 12 or itsequivalent. Unless a force is applied to keep the pins located in thelower part of the grooves, they become located within indent I5 and thecap cannot be removed unless it is first depressed against the biasforce. This depression in combination with rotation of the cap is not atall easy for a child to do.

This type of groove configuration will be termed safety lockingconfiguration" in view of the difficulty in removing the cap. With thistype of safety locking configuration, it is possible that with thedimensions of large indents 15 that have been chosen, a satisfactorysealing of the container is achieved even when the pins of the cap arelocated within and at the top of indent 15. In such a case, the smallerindent 14 may be omitted, although this is unlikely in practice.

If required, two sets of grooves may be provided in the neck or otherformation on a container one set having the safety locking configurationand the other set having the simple sealing construction. An example ofthis form of groove is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The person sealing thecontainer may choose what sort of sealing is required at any particulartime by the choice of cap or the action taken when sealing thecontainer.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, a single groove has two substantially horizontallocking sections, namely 19 and 23 the lower one 23 having a safetylocking configuration and the upper, 19, a simple sealing construction.For use with this type of groove, a cap 16 (similar to cap 7 of FIGS. 1and 2) having two sets of pins, 18 and 21, as illustrated in FIG. 4, maybe provided for simple sealing. Each set of pins enters one of the setsof horizontal sections of the grooves but the lower pins 21 do notnecessarily assist in the sealing of the container 17 (similar to 11)since they may be lying clear below indent 24 when the upper pins 18 areheld in the small indents of the upper horizontal grooves. Using thesmall indents at the extreme left of the locking sections, each set ofpins is used for sealing and should one pin be broken, effective sealingof the container can still be achieved. It can be seen in FIG. 3 that adownward entry portion 20, similar to 10 of FIG. 2, leads to the twogrooves; reference 22 relates to the terminal indent dimension of groovesection 23 in a manner similar to reference 14 of groove 9.

As long as sufficient compressibility of resilient pad 12 (or thealternative spring) is provided, a cap 7 having a single set of pins, asillustrated in FIG. I, will be satisfactory for use with this type ofgroove; the safety locking will, of course, require a greater manualforce to enable the pins 8 to enter the lower locking sections of thegrooves.

As an alternative to this arrangement, two forms of caps with singlepins may be provided, one with high set pins for simple sealing, theother with lower set pins for safety locking. Depending on the contentsof the container, the appropriate one of the caps will be chosen.

It will be seen from the preferred embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2 as well as 3 and 4 that the respective grooves have entry portions10, 20 with one or more locking sections associated therewith, extendingfrom these entry portions and being inclined at an acute angle to aplane transverse the associated closure member. At least two indents areformed in the locking sections, such as 14 and 15 as shown in FIG. 2,and 22 and 24 in the lower one of the two locking sections appearing inFIG. 3. The indent remote from the entry portion is smaller while theother indent, closest to the entry portion, namely 15 and 24,respectively, is larger than the other indents. The indents allow theprojections or pins 8, 18, 21 to be located at different distances fromthe respective sealing members or resilient pads 12. The closure memberhaving the groove therein defines a lobe-shaped portion between theentry portion 10, 20 and the larger indent 15, 24; the lobe-shapedportion, in cooperation with a wall of the groove, constituting arestriction through which the above-mentioned pins or projections mustbe moved when operating the closure arrangement. As a consequence, toseparate the closure members, a force is required to cause theprojections to pass through said restriction, following which theprojections can be moved into the entry portion and the closure membersseparated.

As has been mentioned before, it should be understood that either thegroove is formed in the cap 7, I6 with the pins 8, 18 being provided ina formation or neck of the container, or the reversal is equallypossible where the pins are in the cap and the groove or grooves areformed in the container.

FIG. 5 will be discussed somewhat later.

Yet another form of arrangement where the two types of sealing areprovided with a single groove is that where a single downward section ofthe groove has two locking sections, each extending in oppositedirections from the downward section. In one direction, the lockingsection will have a safety locking configuration and in the otherdirection, a simple sealing construction. Preferably the two lockingsections meet the downward section at different levels to assist indetermining when the cap is in a position for removal (i.e., when it hasbeen turned to a point where further rotation of the cap is prevented bythe pins bearing against the sides of the downward sections of thegrooves).

Yet another possible groove construction is illustrated in FIG. 6. Thisconstruction is particularly apt for use where safety locking isdefinitely required, which will be the case with very dangeroussubstances.

An island 27 is provided in each groove. Island 27 has an end 28 whichmay be pointed or rounded but is so shaped that it provides arestriction to the movement of a pin in channel 26 below the island 27At this point, force, depending upon the degree of restriction to themovement of the pin, must be used to move the pin past the restriction(typically a downwardly pointing tip when the container and/or the pinis made of a plastics material) and into one of the small indents at theend 29 of the groove to seal the container.

On reversing the movement of the cap, the pin moves back until itreaches tip 28 of the island 27. Because of the shape of the tip 28 andthe dimensions of channel 26 at this point, the pin cannot re-enterchannel 26 but has to travel along the upper channel until it reaches astop in the form of the material surrounding the groove at indent 30.From this position, the pin can only be moved into the entry section ofthe groove by forcing it past the island in the small passage belowindent 30. This passage is dimensioned to be a push fit for a pin. Suchan action is an extremely difficult one for a child to master,especially if it is unaware of the nature of the movements required.

To further ensure against a pin entering the channel 26, the back edgeof the pin (which is the right edge if reference is made to a pinentering the channel of FIG. 6) is flat or at least blunt. Awedge-shaped pin, or one having a rounded leading edge, which is capableof expanding the channel 26 at tip 28 would not then be able to passinto channel 26 in the reverse direction. By closing the width of thegroove below point 28 and belowindent 30, the degree of difficulty inopening the container can be increased.

In the case of containers made of non-resilient mate rial, the point 28will be positioned so that the pin is a snug fit in the channel 26. Thisis a sufficient restriction to the path ofa pin to make it difficult forthe pin to reenter channel 26 at point 28 especially if the back edge ofthe pin is flat or blunt.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art of providing seals forcontainers that the embodiment of FIG. 6 may be modified by theinclusion of a second locking section of the groove in a manner akin tothe arrangement of FIG. 3. In view of the detailed description of theinclusion of a second locking member given earlier, it is not necessaryto describe in detail the alternative arrangements that are possible,including the use of a cap having two sets of pins.

It may, however, be worth mentioning that in the sit uation where thetwo sets of locking sections are located one above the other, the uppersections will be shorter in length than the lower sections and willterminate so that the lower pins, in the case of a cap being used whichis of the type illustrated in FIG. 4, have not passed under therestriction at point 28 of the island 27 when the upper pins are at theends of their associated locking sections. There are, of course, norestrictions, apart from those imposed by the size of the container, onthe relative lengths of the locking sections when they are on oppositesides of the entry portion.

FIG. 5 illustrates the arrangement of pins 8a and grooves 9a when thepins are incorporated with the bottle while the grooves having any ofthe configurations already described are formed in the inner face of theskirt of the cap.

It will be noted that in the drawings, all the pins in the caps havebuttons projecting beyond the outer surface of the cap. This is notnecessary but can be useful for location of the pins by a person (forexample, a blind or infirm person) wishing to seal a container or as aholding point for the machines filling the containers. They may,therefore, be added to or formed integrally with the exterior of theskirt of the caps.

It should also be realised that while the invention is particularlyapplicable to containers made of glass or plastics materials and capsmade of plastics materials, other materials, including metals, can beused for caps or containers where circumstances so require.

I claim:

1. A container closure arrangement comprising a pair of closure memberscooperating to hold a sealing member against a rim of the container atthe periphery of its mouth, one of said closure members including a capcontaining said sealing member, and the other closure member including aformation on the container and defining the mouth, means within said capfor biasing the same away from the formation; at least one projectionlocated in one of said closure members, at least the same number ofgrooves formed in the other closure member, said groove having an entryportion for said projection and at least one locking section extendingfrom said entry portion and being at least partly inclined at an acuteangle to a plane transverse its associated closure member; at least twoindents formed in said locking section, namely at least one indentremote from said entry portion, for locating said projection thereinwhen the container is sealed, and another indent closest to said entryportion and larger than the other indents, the latter allowing saidprojection to be located at different distances from said sealingmember, said other closure member defining a lobe-shaped portion betweensaid entry portion and said larger indent, said lobe-shaped portion, incooperation with a wall of said groove, constituting a restrictionthrough which said projection must be moved when operating the closurearrangement; whereby, to separate said closure members, a force isrequired to cause said projection to pass through said restriction,following which said projection can be moved into said entry portion andsaid closure members separated.

2. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein twoof said locking sections are provided, extending from said entryportion, the locking section further away from said sealing memberhaving said lobe-shaped portion and said restriction therein.

3. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 2, wherein saidtwo locking sections are substantially perpendicular to the generaldirection of said entry portion.

4. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 3, wherein twosets of projections are provided, one set each being associated with arespective one of said two locking sections.

5. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 4, wherein saidtwo locking sections extend from said entry portion in differentdirections and meet the same at different levels.

6. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein saidat least one groove is formed in said cap, the latter constituting saidone closure member, while said at least one projection is provided inthe formation of the container, which constitutes said other closuremember.

7. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein saidat least one projection is provided in said cap, the latter constitutingsaid one closure member, while said at least one groove is formed in theformation of the container, which constitutes said other closure member.

8. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 7, wherein saidprojection is provided on the outer surface of a skirt of said cap.

9. A container closure arrangement comprising a pair of closure memberscooperating to hold a sealing member against a rim of the container atthe periphery of its opening, one of said closure members including askirted cap containing said sealing member, and the other closure memberincluding a neck formed in the container and defining the opening, meanswithin said cap for biasing the same away from the neck; at least twoprojections, in the form of pins, located in one of said closuremembers, and at least two grooves formed in the other closure member,said grooves having respective entry portions for said pins and at leasttwo indents within which said pins are located when the container issealed; wherein said grooves have locking sections extending from saidentry portions and being inclined at an acute angle to a planetransverse its associated closure member, said indents being formed insaid locking sections, whereby said pins can be located at differentdistances from said sealing member when the container is scaled; whereinan indent, other than the indent most remote from said entry portion, islarger than the other indents, said biasing means being effective tobias the cooperating pin into said larger indent when said closuremembers are rotated relative to each other to open the sealed container,unless a force is applied to said closure members to overcome the effectof said biasing means until said cooperating pin has reached said entryportions; and further wherein said grooves are divided in their lockingsections into two channels separated by an island, the end of saidisland remote from said entry portion forming a restriction in one ofsaid channels, through which the cooperating pin must pass to reach suchindents, the other end of said islands defining a side of a narrowpassage connecting said channels, said restriction being effective toprevent the return of said last-named cooperating pin into said onechannel in the reverse direction; whereby, to separate said closuremembers, said pin has to travel in the other channel until it reaches astop preventing further relative rotation of said closure members, aforce now being required to cause said pin to pass through said passage,following which said pin can be moved into said entry portion and saidclosure members separated.

10. The container closurearrangement as defined in claim 9, wherein saidpins are provided in said cap, while said grooves are formed in the neckof the container, said pins being blunt on their sides closest to themeeting point of said entry portions and said locking sections when thecontainer is sealed.

1]. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 10, whereinsaid grooves have further locking sections extending from said entryportions and being devoid of enlarged indents.

12. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 11, whereinsaid first-named and said further locking sections extend in each groovein different directions from said entry portions and meet the same atdifferent levels.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION I Patent No. 3 749270 4 Dated y 31 973 Lyle Claud Affleck' lnventor(s) It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 4, between lines 61 and 62, insert the following: The projectionsare substantially rounded on the leading face passing under thelobeshapedportion, whereby they travel from the entry portion i nto thelocking section with comparatively minor force; conversely theprojections are flat or at least blunt facing the entry portion whenviewed passing counterclockwise under the lobe-shaped portion, to induceforce. Column 6, line 51, between "her," and "said", insert said biasingmeans being effectiveto bias the cooperating pin into said larger indentwhen said closure members are rotated relative to each other to: openthe sealed container, unless a force is applied..to said closure membersto overcome the effect of said biasing means until said cooperating pinhas reached said entry portion, Column 7, line 24, "projection isprovided on" should read "projection extends inwardly from said cap, andhas a button-shaped configuration on Column 8,

li 16 "islands" should read H island line 71 FORM Po-1o5o (10-69) IUSCOMWDC 6037M,

u.s. sovtmmzm vnmnuc orncs: 930

Patent No, Dated Lyle Claud Affleck I Page 2 Inventor(s) s in theabove-identified patent It is certified that error appear hown below:

and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as s between stop" and"preventing" insert constituted by said narrow passage, line 15, "such"should read said Signed and eealed this 7th day of January 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARZBHALL BAND:

MCCOY M. GIBSON JR.

Commissioner of Patents Attestingg. Officer USCOMM'DC 60376'P6 FORMPo-1o5o (10-6 v U S, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 9 930

1. A container closure arrangement comprising a pair of closure memberscooperating to hold a sealing member against a rim of the container atthe periphery of its mouth, one of said closure members including a capcontaining said sealing member, and the other closure member including aformation on the container and defining the mouth, means within said capfor biasing the same away from the formation; at least one projectionlocated in one of said closure members, at least the same number ofgrooves formed in the other closure member, said groove having an entryportion for said projection and at least one locking section extendingfrom said entry portion and being at least partly inclined at an acuteangle to a plane transverse its associated closure member; at least twoindents formed in said locking section, namely at least one indentremote from said entry portion, for locating said projection thereinwhen the container is sealed, and another indent closest to said entryportion and larger than the other indents, the latter allowing saidprojection to be located at different distances from said sealingmember, said other closure member defining a lobe-shaped portion betweensaid entry portion and said larger indent, said lobeshaped portion, incooperation with a wall of said groove, constituting a restrictionthrough which said projection must be moved when operating the closurearrangement; whereby, to separate said closure members, a force isrequired to cause said projection to pass through said restriction,following which said projection can be moved into said entry portion andsaid closure members separated.
 2. The container closure arrangement asdefined in claim 1, wherein two of said locking sections are provided,extending from said entry portion, the locking section further away fromsaid sealing member having said lobe-shaped portion and said restrictiontherein.
 3. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 2,wherein said two locking sections are substantially perpendicular to thegeneral direction of said entry portion.
 4. The container closurearrangement as defined in claim 3, wherein two sets of projections areprovided, one set each being associated with a respective one of saidtwo locking sections.
 5. The container closure arrangement as defined inclaim 4, wherein said two locking sections extend from said entryportion in different directions and meet the same at different levels.6. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein saidat least one groove is formed in said cap, the latter constituting saidone closure member, while said at least one projection is provided inthe formation of the container, which constitutes said other closuremember.
 7. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 1,wherein said at least one projection is provided in said cap, the latterconstituting said one closure member, while said at least one groove isformed in the formation of the container, which constitutes said otherclosure member.
 8. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim7, wherein said projection is provided on the outer surface of a skirtof said cap.
 9. A container closure arrangement comprising a pair ofclosure members cooperating to hold a sealing member against a rim ofthe container at the periphery of its opening, one of said closuremembers including a skirted cap containing said sealing member, and theother closure member including a neck formed in the container anddefining the opening, means within said cap for biasing the same awayfrom the neck; at least two projections, in the form of pins, located inone of said closure members, and at least two grooves formed in theother closure member, said grooves having respective entry portions forsaid pins and at least two indents within which said pins are locatedwhen the container is sealed; wherein said grooves have locking sectionsextending from said entry portions and being inclined at an acute angleto a plane transverse its associated closure member, said indents beingformed in said locking sections, whereby said pins can be located atdifferent distances from said sealing member when the container issealed; wherein an indent, other than the indent most remote from saidentry portion, is larger than the other indents, said biasing meansbeing effective to bias the cooperating pin into said larger indent whensaid closure members are rotated relative to each other to open thesealed container, unless a force is applied to said closure members toovercome the effect of said biasing means until said cooperating pin hasreached said entry portions; and further wherein said grooves aredivided in their locking sections into two channels separated by anisland, the end of said island remote from said entry portion forming arestriction in one of said channels, through which the cooperating pinmust pass to reach such indents, the other end of said islands defininga side of a narrow passage connecting said channels, said restrictionbeing effective to prevent the return of said last-named cooperating pininto said one channel in the reverse direction; whereby, to separatesaid closure members, said pin has to travel in the other channel untilit reaches a stop preventing further relative rotation of said closuremembers, a force now being required to cause said pin to pass throughsaid passage, following which said pin can be moved into said entryportion and said closure members separated.
 10. The container closurearrangement as defined in claim 9, wherein said pins are provided insaid cap, while said grooves are formed in the neck of the container,said pins being blunt on their sides closest to the meeting point ofsaid entry portions and said locking sections when the container issealed.
 11. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 10,wherein said grooves have further locking sections extending from saidentry portions and being devoid of enlarged indents.
 12. The containerclosure arrangement as defined in claim 11, wherein said first-named andsaid further locking sections extend in each groove in differentdirections from said entry portions and meet the same at differentlevels.